Lynch Formula Expanded

Chris Bass is the "brains" behind the IAWA. Chris is often the official scorekeeper at International Events, and he maintains the IAWA World Record List, which is an overwhelming task. Chris was very influential in helping solve this problem with the Lynch Formula.

A project that I have been working on for the past several months has been trying to expand the Lynch Factor Chart to allow bodyweight adjustments for heavier lifters. This has been a big problem with the Lynch Factor Chart in the past – it only went up to 138 kilograms bodyweight. This is how it always has been since the original calculations were done. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to have lifters that weigh over this amount, and NO LYNCH FACTORS have been available for them. It forced the Meet Director to either just use the highest Lynch Factor available on the Chart, or “make a guess” at a factor for them, either case not being the way it should be done.

Efforts were made to acquire the original Lynch Formula or extrapolate the current Lynch Factors to higher bodyweight factors. Both of these ideas were unsuccessful – UNTIL NOW!! I brought this problem up at the IAWA World Council Meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, and a committee of myself, Chris Bass and Roger Davis were formed to look further into it and find a resolution. I am glad to say that Roger Davis has found the original Lynch Formula, which the Lynch Formula creator Ian Lynch had given to him many years prior. Through the works of Roger, he placed the formula in an Excel Spreadsheet and generated the new, higher numbers, which are needed to make the Lynch Factor Chart complete. The chart now goes to 180 kilograms bodyweight, with all the new numbers generated from the same formula that the previous numbers were. For those interested, the mathematical expression of the Lynch Formula is:

This is indeed a much more complicated formula than I thought it would be originally!! I have expanded the USAWA Lynch Formula Chart with the new values. It will always be available on the USAWA website – under the page titled “Scoring Information”. I am the type of person who likes to solve problems quickly, and then immediately take action to implement the solution. So, I presented this to the USAWA Executive Board for approval, which would allow the USAWA to implement this new Lynch Chart right away. The USAWA Executive Board, of myself, Denny Habecker, Dennis Mitchell, Chad Ullom, and Scott Schmidt, approved it unanimously. This means the USAWA, as of now, will use this new Lynch Factor Chart in our scoring. The IAWA will need a membership vote, which only occurs when there is a World Council Meeting. This means it may be next year before the IAWA approves this new Lynch Chart, unless a Council Meeting is called for at the 2010 Gold Cup next month. Regardless, the committee of myself, Roger, and Chris will present it for IAWA approval at the next Council Meeting.